The Beach
by Ai Ga Hoshii Dake
Summary: Just a oneshot I wrote on a whim taking place around eight months after Hotel Dusk took place involving Melissa and Kevin.


Just a drabble I felt like posting. Enjoy it.

Or not, whichever.

**Spoilers ahead**, and I do not own Hotel Dusk: Room 15.

If I did, hair colors would be changed.

Yes they would.

* * *

"Don't shift so much in your seat Melissa, you're makin' me antsy and I do have to _drive _after all," he chuckled. "'Kay," she responded, a common response with her, and searched for something to hold her interest to resist disobeying her father. She didn't want to sass her father anymore. Not since Christmas time.

She didn't know what he did, but Mister Hyde had changed her father. To think it had only been a couple of hours before she last heard from him. She touched the piece of paper in her pocket and smiled to herself.

* * *

_Flashback, December 29th, 1979._

She had slipped into 215 when Kyle had proceeded to the roof for a final good-bye to Lord-Knows-Who. She thought he was in there, but it turned out to be empty. There was no suitcase, so she figured he must've forgotten to lock up. Then the phone rang.

Being the polite smallish girl she was, she skipped over to the nightstand and answered for him.

"Hullo?" she answered, somewhat coughing as she did it. She noticed a sudden deepness in her voice.

"Hey good lookin', shouldn't you be at check-out hun?" a sexy voice asserted her. Melissa coughed a few more times. "Ummmm...my Daddy's packin' still. Are you Mister Hyde's girlfriend or something?" she asked.

"Deh...um...uh...errr...yeah sure. Sweetie do you know where he is?"

"Ummmm no. I thought he was in here but the door was unlocked. I dunno where he went."

"I see, alright bye then."

"No wait. Umm...miss?"

"Yes dear?"

"Do you...know where Mister Hyde lives?"

"Well yes. I'm his employer's secretary. Why do you ask?"

"Its just...we're gonna be leaving soon and I might never see him again and I don't wan't that...so..."

"Kyle went soft huh?"

"What do you mean Miss?"

"Nothing hun. You got some paper and a pen near you?"

"Uhhh...yeah."

"Okay write down 1-800-733-27696 okay? Whenever you want to hear from Mister Hyde you just drop a line okay? Its the Red Crown business line, just ask for Rachel okay? I'm Rachel by the way."

"Okay Miss Rachel, thanks...a lot."

"No problem sweetie."

_End flashback. Return to August 12th, 1980._

* * *

She didn't ever want to forget Kyle, ever. Even she had to admit she didn't think she'd be finding her Mom anytime soon, but after getting locked up in the 218 and getting chided by the man, she suddenly felt different.

Especially today. From the minute her father, Kevin Woodward, had woken her up early with the surprising news of their trip to the beach, a bubble felt like it had lodged itself in her stomach and utterly refused to pop. It wasn't uncomfortable, just bizarre. Out of place. Like something was going to happen. She hadn't felt this way since the day...

She bit her lip as she gazed out the window.

Since the day her father had taken her to school. The day Grace Woodward dropped off the face of the earth.

_He's on top of it. He's got a plan._

It was hard to believe it all happened in just one day. From the meeting on the stairs to be trapped in that vacant room, to when she woke to a smiling father. There was something about Mister Hyde she couldn't place. He didn't exactly _look_ different. Salesmen were pretty ordinary people in her book. She often heard the funny bellhop referring to Kyle as an officer, but she figured that he was just kidding around, for he seemed like the type. What else? Well...he could sew. That was a bit out there, she never really expected men to sew. She just followed what that Summer man said. He seemed to think very highly of Mister Hyde. She didn't blame him, even if he did smell funny and talked like some alien.

"Daddy, didja ever meet Mister Summer back at the hotel?" she asked, breaking the silence of the car. She saw her father cock his head to the side. "I think I saw him walk by once or twice, but I never really associated with him. Why do you ask?" Kevin replied, sparing his daughter a quick glance before restoring his gaze to the road before him.

"Just wonderin'. He seemed to like Mister Hyde, but he talked really weird. He kept saying "quite" and other fancy-schmansy words when he talked. He also kinda smelled funny," she explained.

Normally she would have been chided for such a rude comment, but all she recieved was a soft chuckle. "I guess that's why the hallway smelled after he walked by," she heard him say. She smiled and set her gaze out the window.

Civilization had seemed to erupt from the dusty and barren ground encircling the highway they followed, and soon other cars joined beside them. Not soon after did she see random shops and people, she saw a boardwalk. She grinned, they were finally at the beach. Kevin eyed his daughter's expression change as she noticed the change in scenery, and gave a smile himself.

He was glad he stopped at Hotel Dusk. Even though he didn't find a helpful clue(Just thinking about Iris brought back that simply awful hangover) he had found something better.

His own kid. Ever since Grace left he admits knowing that he got a bit colder towords Melissa. She was only ten, and it was pretty obvious she would show some rebellion, it was just kid nature. He often would just snap at her and leave her to sulk, and he felt pretty disgusted afterwords. With the burden of his wife's dissapearance he felt like all he needed was a simple nudge before he went over the edge.

Yet in the midst of all the snapping and bickering and sulking and tears, he found his little girl was the grappling hook he grasped so tightly to save him from falling over again and again.

And then he would just snap at her once more.

"Daddyyyyyy, what're you smilin' at?" he heard Melissa nag. He lightly shook his head from his daydream and parked the car in the lot. "Just smiling 'cause we're here," he told her. She nodded enthusiastically and started pulling at her hair. He pulled his keys from the ignition and dropped him in the beach bag. He turned to face his daughter, and lightly smiled as she continued pulling at her right pigtail.

"Sweetie, what in the world are you trying to do?" he asked. She stopped in mid-pull to answer him. "I'm gonna make a beach knot so my hair doesn't get all yucky from the salt water. Mommy taught me that when we went to the beach."

"How does it help? Either way your hair is exposed to the salt," he asked her, raising a brow. He knew Grace was sometimes awkward, but he didn't see the logic in it. Apparently neither did Melissa, for she just shrugged and released some hair from one pig tail. She repeated the step with the other side of her head until her chocolate hair had spilled over her shoulders. He rarely saw her like that, she was very fond of the whole pig-tail thing.

Kevin leaned over to the passenger seat and pulled the beach bag from its resting spot on the floor and simply stared as he watched his daughter flawlessly pulled her hair back into a double-twisted pony tail and then only pull the third twist halfway through. She leaned down and pulled her own beach bag from behind the passenger seat and unbuckled herself. She slung the bag over her shoulder as best as she could in a sitting position. "What Dad?"

"How is it girls can do that without looking?" he asked. Melissa gave a cheesy grin. "Minfooition Daddy," she responded. "That's INTUition kiddo," he responded, and opened his door and got out. Melissa followed his example and hopped out the backseat as her father retrieved the umbrella from the passenger seat. The trudged up the board walk until they reached the top, watching people bustle by in bathing suits and flip-flops. "Stay close," Kevin lectured his daughter as he gently took her hand and led her to a set area for changing. He stretched his neck and quickly jogged over and shoved Melissa into an empty one, and snatched the one right next to her, only to leave a pair of fat tourists in bright colored Hawaii shirts mumbling to themselves.

"What 'da hell was that?"

* * *

Melissa wobbled on her feet as she stood in the changing booth, still in shock from being shoved. She shook it off and set her beach bag down on the small bench in the corner and slipped out of her jacket, then her tee, and then her skirt. She felt exposed and had to keep reminding herself that wood wasn't transparent.

She heard a knock from the wall to her right. "Melissa, you okay?" she heard a voice ask. "I'm okay Daddy," she responded, not knowing who else it could be. She pulled her bathing suit from the bag and proceeded with changing.

A few minutes later another knock erupted, this time from the door. "You almost done kiddo?" Kevin asked. He stepped back at the abrupt opening of the door and smiled at the small eleven-year-old standing proudly in a cute purple bathing suit with a thin orange skirt tied around her waist. She had a pair of bright yellow sun glasses, but nothing could outshine the cheesy grin. "Let's go stake some land Lewis!" she shouted. Kevin scratched his head. "Lewis?" he asked, leading her away from the changing booths. "Yeah, y'know? Lewis and Clarke expedition? They founded the western part of America for us." she explained as they carefully made their way down the ramp. Melissa jumped over the edge, letting her bare feet sink slightly into the sand. She sprinted down the hill, only to have a disgruntled Kevin Woodward trying to keep up, just barely staying in his sandals. After what seemed like fifteen minutes he finally caught up with her and let his things drop on the sand beside her. He hovered over the girl who was lying contently on a beach blanket, her palms acting as a cushion for the back of her head. She momentarily pulled a hand away to tip her sunglasses. "You're blocking my sun."

He smirked and shoved the umbrella into the sand and opened it with a _pop_. He packed sand around the pole and pulled out a bottle from the bag. "C'mere kiddo befoe you get burned," he coaxed. Melissa reluctantly pulled herself away from her towel and slipped into the shade. She held her arms out as her father worked the lotion onto her shoulders, then her arms, then her legs, soon her back, and then some parts of her face. She noticed he was slightly red in the face and somewhat panting. Probably from the running.

* * *

_"Hey Mommy, why doesn't Daddy come to the beach with us?"_

_"Because Melissa. Fit and athletic men come to the beach to go for a swim, try their hand at surfing, or go for a jog along the shore. They enjoy the salty breeze and wind in their face and aren't afraid of being active._

_Melissa?"_

_"Yes Mommy?"_

_"Your father is not one of those men."_

* * *

"Can you just rub some on my back please?" Kevin asked, disrupting her minor flashback. She gave her signature nod and squirted some of the white paste onto her palm and rubbed it up and down her father's back. After a while of rubbing her arms started to ache and she pulled away. Her father took the bottle from her and smiled. "Thanks sweetie, you can hang out by the shore just don't go in past your knees until I'm with you." She rolled her eyes but giggled anyway and took off for the shore. He pulled the beach bags into the sanctity of the umbrella's shade. He peered into Melissa's bag, where her street clothes and beach toys had been shoved in. He saw a hint of paper poking from her jacket pocket and reached in. It was crumpled as he unfolded it.

_Dear Melissa._

_If you miss Mister Hyde call 1-800-733-27696. Someone's gonna answer saying its Red Crown household doo-hickeys or something. Ask for Miss Rachel and then she'll tell Mister Hyde to call you or something._

_Love, yourself._

He smiled at the small note and returned it to its rightful place in the pocket. He rose from his sitting position and smacked some sand off his swim trunks. He watched as Melissa and another girl in a green bikini ran away from the incoming tide, laughing and shrieking hysterically. The girl seemed Melissa's age, and he was glad she had made a friend so fast. He abandoned his sandals and made his way to the water where his daughter was now sitting with her friend on the wet sand, recovering from what appeared to be a laughing fit.

"You make a new friend?" he asked. Melissa nodded. "Yeah this is Cadie!" Cadie gave a small wave, slightly shaking the blond hair that came just short of her earlobe.

"CADIE! Come here for some lunch babe!"

Cadie suddenly shot up. "Sorry Melissa, I gotta go eat. I'll play with you in a bit, 'kay?" she asked.

Melissa nodded and jumped up. "See you later Cadie!" she exclaimed, waving at the girl who was already starting up the hill.

"You ready to go in Daddy?" she asked, turning to face her father. He nodded and gripped her hand. The both ran to the shore, ready to face the upcoming wave. They gave a flying leap and crashed into the salty waters, only to resurface a few seconds later. Melissa had entered another giggling fit, her brunette beach knot had gone limp from the water. Kevin's naturally short brown hair had only darkened in color.

Suddenly a few short pieces of hair fell out of line and sprawled over his forehead as Melissa splashed him. He wiped the water from his eyes and gave his daughter a stoic face. Her smile had faded and her lips became slightly agape. Had she angered him? She only wanted to have fun.

"Daddy...I'm...I'm so--AGGHHH"

She tried to retain her laughter as she held her breath, and soon let it out as she resurfaced once more. She met her father who was smirking proudly. "Oh you're not getting away with THAT Daddy!" his daughter replied, giving a wag of her finger and bushing away the drips of water rolling down her face. And soon she had positioned herself on his back, shifting her weight trying to submerge him.

Splash. Dunk. Laugh. Smirk. Tackle. Shout. Splash. Dunk. Happy. Giggling. Smiling. Wet. Sunshine. Happiness. Splash. Dunk. Repeat.

They then emerged from the water, pruny fingered and soaked to the core and trudged up the sand. They collapsed onto the beach towels under their umbrella.

Kevin shifted and rolled onto his stomach and closed his eyes. "Melissa go play with Cadie okay? Just don't go in the water. I'm gonna rest up." he told her. "Okay!" she exclaimed, a little louder than he would have liked, and fished her beach toys from her bag and raced over to the umbrella a few meters away.

"Hiya Cadie! Wanna make some sand castles?" Melissa asked, approaching the large purple umbrella. Cadie looked up and popped the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth. She chew quickly and gave a long gulp before giving a look to her mother. Once given a nod of approval the two set out towards the shore. The settled by the border where the tide could reach and could not read and knelt down. Tiny hands soon began packing wet sand into plastic containers and dumping their molded forms back onto moist sand. Dry sand was sprinkled for effect.

Cadie set to work gathering shells and sea plants that had washed up while Melissa set to work on making a moat. Cadie soon returned with am armful of shells and moist leaves. She dumped them beside the moat and sprinkled some more dry sand over the large castle in the center, before adding a shell.

"Hey Melissa, where's your Mom?"

Melissa kept with making the moat deeper, though her eyes did lose some glow. Suddenly the bubble had reestablished itself within her stomach, threatening to grow.

"I dunno. They're divorced so I dunno where she went."

She wasn't entirely sure if they were divorced or not or if her mother just upped and left. She had been looking through a dictionary for a homework assignment once and stumbled upon the word "Divorce". Its definition just seemed to fit her situation.

"Oh. I didn't know. Sorry."

"Its okay. Daddy said he's on top of it. He said we'll find her eventually."

"I'm glad I know where my Mommy is...I'd be really sad without her. Aren't you sad?"

She paused for a moment to think.

"A little, but I think we'll find her so I'm not that sad. I know she's alright."

Cadie nodded and continued wrapping a piece of seaweed around a stout castle.

"Cadie! Sweetums its time to leave!"

"Awwwwww mannnnnn," Cadie grumbled, brushing the sand off her knees as she rose from her spot.

"Don't forget your picture!" Melissa reminded her. She waved her own small black-and-white photo given to her by a kind old man who passed by. He had taken two extra pictures for the builders and one for himself. They felt proud that a total stranger liked their creations, and gladly accepted the memento.

Cadie nodded and waved her picture in response. Melissa gathered up her shovels and buckets and walked Cadie back to the umbrella.

"Thank you for playing with me Cadie!" Melissa said cheerfully. They exchanged a quick hug and Melissa started twowards her father. She gave a yawn. She was exhausted and was more than ready to go home, take a bath, have some ice cream, and snuggle under the covers.

"Gonna go home in the car, yes I will. Then I'm gonna take a bath, yes I will. And I'll beg Daddy fooorrrrr some icccccceee creeeaaammm, oh yessssss I willllllll," she sang to herself, hopping from on foot to the other, avoiding tanning beach-goers and just regular people basking in the sun.

Now if you seriously thought that a stout and slightly pudgy girl named Melissa Woodward was paying attention to walking around the people,

you'd be right.

If you seriously thought she took occasional glances at her feet to avoid an oncoming dip in the sand,

you'd be wrong.

"Ohmygawd sweetie are you okay?" Melissa heard as she lay face-flat in the sand, arms spread out and beach toys scattered around her. She finally regained the strength to push her upper body from the ground, holding back tears as she did.

_Don't cry be a big girl, don't cry be a big girl, don't cry be a big, GOD ITS NOT WORKING._

"Honey don't cry, you only got a scrape from the shell in the sand. I have a first-aid kit okay? Come here I won't bite," a soothing voice coaxed her. The tears seemed to stop deap in their tracks as she found herself hobbling over to a bright pink beach towel, a woman behind her following, arms filled with her beach toys. In the sun rays she could see a lean figure in a red bikini, most of her face covered in gaudy black sun glasses.

The woman knelt down and opened her cooler, and pulled out a small white case. Her blonde hair swished around her shoulders, begging Melissa to run her finger through it. Behind it she caught a glimpse of a red bauble hanging from the woman's ear.

Red baubles...why did that seem so familiar?

"Okay honey, now the disinfectant might sting a bit." The woman's voice awoken Melissa, and was soon followed by a small stinging pain as she rubbed a small cotton ball over the scrape. Melissa bit her lip, but refused to swallow her pride and cry out.

"Wow, you're brave. I still squeak when I go for my finger prick at the doctor's office," the woman admitted. "Reeaaalllyyy?" Melissa drawled. The lady smiled and nodded, and stuck a green band-aid over the scrape. "All done!" she said cheerfully. Melissa couldn't help but smile back.

Contagious smile...why did that seem so familiar?

"Do you need help finding your spot on the beach?" the lady asked, returning the kit to the cooler. Melissa shook her head and gathered her beach toys. "No I'm okay, but thank you though. Buh-by--" Melissa was interrupted when the two rose at the same time.

And bumped into eachother.

The beach toys were dropped.

The sun glasses had fallen off.

And the large bubble that rested in Melissa's stomach had finally bursted.

The sun rose above the two standing females.

The lady could clearly see each feature in Melissa's face.

Melissa's view of her saviour was now unblocked by the sunglasses.

"Oh god."

"DADDY!!"

* * *

He was perfectly content with lying in the shade of the umbrella on his stomach. His head rested on a soft rolled up beach blanket while the rest of his body lay stretched out on an equally soft blanket.

He wasn't exactly buff or fit. He wasn't the type to slip on some running shoes and job along the shore, whistling or winking at hot girls in bikinis. No, let Kevin clarify:

**HE. WAS. NOT. ONE. OF. THOSE. MEN.**

And he was fine with that.

He wasn't FAT or anything. Oh no. The years of being a surgeon taught him the proper ways to take care of himself, he just wasn't overly athletic.

And he was content with that. Just lying there in the nice shade...

Until the scream.

"DADDDDDYYYYYYY!!"

He felt as if his heart had stopped and if his skin at tore at the scream. It was so sudden. He sat there for a bit, on top of a pile of jumbled towels, feeling as if he just survived a fatal myocardial infarction. Until it clicked.

That was Melissa's voice.

All thoughts that he should go to the gym or start running in the morning because he was nonathletic were soon demolished as he sprinted to find his daughter, feeling as strong as the wind erupting from Hell's gates. He didn't spare the fellow beach-goers a passing glance let alone an apology for kicking sand into their faces.

He fell to his knees behind his daughter, who was sitting and trembling ever so forcefully on the sand. He gripped her shoulders in distress.

"Honey? Honey are you okay? MELISSA!"

But all the girl could do was raise a shaky finger at the lean fingure before her. The woman had her hands cupped over her mouth, as if trying to muffle a scream, yet her eyes remained visible and wide.

And Kevin got it.

"G...G-g-g," he murmured, and gave a long gulp before finding the right word.

"Grace?"

* * *

End. Hey I never said it was good. Now before I leave this oneshot to rot in the current deserted Hotel Dusk category, I'd like to clear a few things up:

-The Red Crown phone number was obviously fake. However, if you match up the numbers to a phone keypad, they spell RED CROWN.

-In the game Melissa is portrayed as a ten-year-old. This story takes place in August of 1980, while the game was set in December of 1979. I believe it was when Kyle solved the complete version of the her puzzle in her room when she mentioned when her birthday was. Its in June (I'll replay the game to find the exact day, I know it ends in a nine) making her eleven in this story.

-Cadie was just taken from my cat's name. Shout out to the black ball of fuzz who just sits on the living room couch and never gets up unless its to go to the bathroom or nag for food.

-A myocardial infarction is just fancy speak for heart attack. I figured it'd be a word Kevin would use since he's a surgeon.

-Kevin is a bit OOC in this story but I figured he'd be nicer after his incident at the Dusk.

-In the flashbacks showing the pictures of Grace she wore bauble earrings, and I figured a shade of red would suit them.

-Hey let's just say Grace is blond, m'kay?

-This fanfiction does not portray what I truly think happened to Grace, I just wrote this on a whim.

**SPOILERSSPOILERSPOILERSSPOILERS**

I truly believe that Grace had a run in with Nile after having a run in with Bradley. I would like to say Grace was murdered by Nile, but I don't have enough evidence to go on. Hostage is also a possible option. I say she met Bradley because of the tape she gave to Iris. She wouldn't have been able to find out about Osterzone's true identity. The Gallery May closed in 1972 according to the timeline I'm using. Grace had taken maternity leave during the close-down and then found work in a museum in 1973. Seeing as Bradley was the one who had stolen A.O.P.A.D and then returned it, he had first-hand knowledge of the Evan/Smith secret. I haven't devised a theory of how she came to accquire the tape, but I suspect Bradley had something to do with that aswell.

Besides, if she knew about Osterzone, the fact that Nile had a part in her dissapearance should jump out at you.

**ENDTHESPOILERSENDTHESPOILERS**

That's my theory and before I officially close this story, I would like to say one last thing. Okay maybe a few things:

KYLE HYDE SHOULD BE BLOND.

MILA SHOULD HAVE BLACK AND/OR WHITE HAIR.

IRIS SHOULD BE A RED HEAD. SO SHOULD MELISSA.

Thank you, R&R.

-Hoshii-chan.


End file.
